50 Shades of Gay: a gem of a film hidden behind a tiresome punning title: review

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What does it mean to be gay and British in 2017? A gem of a film hidden behind a tiresome punning title, 50 Shades of Gay (Channel 4) found actor Rupert Everett seeking answers. He didn’t succeed but it was hugely enjoyable watching him try.

Everett idiosyncratically explored the changes in gay life in the half-century since the decriminalisation of male homosexuality. “I can only imagine what my father would’ve thought as he took the 8.17 train from Witham into Liverpool Street and read the news that homosexuality had been legalised,” Everett pondered, in gloriously plummy tones. “Not knowing that across the country, I was sitting in my school shorts, plotting and preparing for a long career as a screaming queen.”

Rupert EverettCredit:
Channel 4

Much has been gained in the journey towards mainstream acceptance, yet has the rebellious, outsider spirit of gay culture been lost along the way? Our host thought so, as he spoke Polari slang and reminisced about cruising leather-clad men in alleys.

He zipped around the country to meet LGBT people from all walks of life: “gangsta gay” rapper Jai’Rouge, actors from youth soap Hollyoaks (“It’s like porn!” Everett exclaimed delightedly) and Essex carpenter Steve, who cheerfully puts up with lots of “banter” on building sites.

Rupert EverettCredit:
Channel 4

A retired policeman who used to bust cottagers showed Everett around the public loo he once staked out. Former BP boss Lord Browne discussed the problems of being gay in big business. In Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, aka the lesbian capital of Britain, Everett joined the local choir for a rousing rendition of I Am Woman. “I feel empowered!” he cried.

He then joined Diana, Princess of Wales’s former royal butler Paul Burrell on the day before his gay wedding (“gruesome events”, sniffed Everett) to help with the floral arrangements – stereotypes be damned. Burrell’s tales of meeting his first wife in the Queen’s bedroom and being “gayish” were less remarkable than his clanging name-dropping.

It was challenging fare at times – the bracingly un-PC Everett spoke frankly about sex, drugs and the school showers - but ultimately moving, optimistic and very funny. Forget The Kenny Everett Show. Somebody give Rupert his own series.